Alder on America: Thanksgiving and Wine

At a certain point in my childhood, Christmas faced a stiff challenge as my favourite holiday. Never mind that I am technically Jewish. For whatever reason, we ended up with a Christmas tree and presents instead of a menorah and the eight nights of chocolate coins for Hanukkah. But at a certain point, as much as I loved getting presents, there was one thing I enjoyed almost as much as ripping the wrapping paper off brightly coloured packages, and that was eating meat.

While other kids saw the months between the beginning of the school year and the Christmas holidays as a long, bleak stretch of rapidly shortening days, I saw a shining light on the hill, a beacon of hope that would sustain me in the cold winter months of Colorado. I loved Thanksgiving.

This article is my monthly column at JancisRobinson.Com, Alder on America, and is available only to subscribers of her web site. If you're not familiar with the site, I urge you to give it a try. It's only £6.99 a month or £69 per year ($11/mo or $109 a year for you Americans) and well worth the cost, especially considering you basically get free, searchable access to the Oxford Companion to Wine ($65) and the World Atlas of Wine ($50) as part of the subscription costs. Click here to sign up.

At a certain point in my childhood, Christmas faced a stiff challenge as my favourite holiday. Never mind that I am technically Jewish. For whatever reason, we ended up with a Christmas tree and presents instead of a menorah and the eight nights of chocolate coins for Hanukkah. But at a certain point, as much as I loved getting presents, there was one thing I enjoyed almost as much as ripping the wrapping paper off brightly coloured packages, and that was eating meat.\n\nWhile other kids saw the months between the beginning of the school year and the Christmas holidays as a long, bleak stretch of rapidly shortening days, I saw a shining light on the hill, a beacon of hope that would sustain me in the cold winter months of Colorado. I loved Thanksgiving.\n\nYou see, I grew up the son of a single hippie mother, whose cooking repertoire, bless her heart, consisted of about six dishes, four of which contained both brown rice and pinto beans.... Continue reading this article on JancisRobinson.Com.\n\nThis article is my monthly column at JancisRobinson.Com, Alder on America, and is available only to subscribers of her web site. If you're not familiar with the site, I urge you to give it a try. It's only £6.99 a month or £69 per year (\$11/mo or \$109 a year for you Americans) and well worth the cost, especially considering you basically get free, searchable access to the Oxford Companion to Wine (\$65) and the World Atlas of Wine (\$50) as part of the subscription costs. Click here to sign up.\n\n